Ophiotrichidae are a family of ophiurid

brittle star Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

s within the suborder Gnathophiurina. All have arms with delicate translucent, thorny spines. The arms are flexible in all directions. The jaws contain clusters of well-developed tooth papillae on the apex but not on the sides. There are no mouth papillae. Inside the mouth edge there is a second pair of tube feet. They show large radial shields. The dorsal surface of the disc is covered with spines and thorny towers.

Systematics

Ophiotrichidae contains the following genera:MarineSpecies.org - Ophiotrichidae Ljungman, 1867
/ref> *'' Asteria'' (''nomen dubium'') *'' Gymnolophus'' Brock, 1888 *'' Lissophiothrix'' H.L. Clark, 1938 *'' Macrophiothrix'' H.L. Clark, 1938 *'' Ophioaethiops'' Brock, 1888 *'' Ophiocampsis'' Duncan, 1887 *'' Ophiocnemis'' Müller & Troschel, 1842 *'' Ophiogymna'' Ljungman, 1866 *'' Ophiolophus'' Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1887 *'' Ophiomaza'' Lyman, 1871 *'' Ophiophthirius'' Döderlein, 1898 *'' Ophiopsammium'' Lyman, 1874 *'' Ophiopteron'' Ludwig, 1888 *'' Ophiothela'' Verrill, 1867 *'' Ophiothrichoides'' Delage & Hérouard, 1903 *''

Ophiothrix ''Ophiothrix'' is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. At present a total of 93 Ophiothrix species have been recognized. It is considered as one of the most interesti ...

'' Müller & Troschel, 1840 *'' Ophiotrichoides'' Ludwig, 1882 Image:Macrophiothrix sp..jpg, Une '' Macrophiothrix sp.'' Image:Ophiogymna funesta (MNHN-IE-2013-10242) 02.jpg, '' Ophiogymna funesta'' Image:Feather-hitching brittle star (Ophiomaza cacaotica) 2.jpg, '' Ophiomaza cacaotica'' Image:Ophiopsammium semperi.jpg, '' Ophiopsammium semperi'' Image:Ophiothela mirabilis.jpg, ''

Ophiothela mirabilis ''Ophiothela mirabilis'' is a species of ophiurid brittle stars within the family Ophiotrichidae. Characteristics It is a very minute brittle star, which rarely reaches more than 1 cm including arms. It has in general 6 arms, however becau ...

'' Image:Ophiothrix foveolata (Brittle star).jpg, ''

Ophiothrix foveolata ''Ophiothrix'' is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. At present a total of 93 Ophiothrix species have been recognized. It is considered as one of the most interesti ...

'' Image:Ophiothrix fragilis (Abildgaard, 1789) 1 .jpg, ''

Ophiothrix fragilis ''Ophiothrix fragilis'' is a species of brittle star in the order Ophiurida. It is found around the coasts of western Europe and is known in Britain as the common brittle star. It is also found along the coast of South Africa where it is known ...

'' Image:Ophiothrixspiculata.jpg, ''

Ophiothrix spiculata ''Ophiothrix'' is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. At present a total of 93 Ophiothrix species have been recognized. It is considered as one of the most interesti ...

'' Image:Sponge Brittle Stars.jpg, ''

Ophiothrix suensonii ''Ophiothrix'' is a large genus of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) found in oceans worldwide from tropics to Arctic and Antarctic regions. At present a total of 93 Ophiothrix species have been recognized. It is considered as one of the most interesti ...

'' Image:Ophiothrix angulata.jpg, ''

Ophiothrix angulata ''Ophiothrix angulata'', the angular brittle star, is a species of marine invertebrate in the order Ophiurida. It is found in the warm waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Description Like other britt ...

References

* Hansson, H.G. (2001). Echinodermata, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 336–351 * Stöhr, S.; Hansson, H. (2009). Ophiotrichidae. In: Stöhr, S., O’Hara, T. (Eds) (2009). World Ophiuroidea database. Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialis ...

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on 2010-06-16 * P.J. Hayward and J.S. Ryland (ed.), Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996, Ophiotrichidae, Gnathophiurina Echinoderm families {{ophiuroidea-stub